As we got to the hospital, aunty Jennifer rushed to the front
desk at the reception and asked the lady behind for some
information concerning uncle cheatmaster. I had anxiously
been waiting for her in the waiting area while I watched her
talk to the lady behind the desk. Then I saw a nurse coming
out from somewhere and aunty Jennifer going to meet her. I
stood up when I saw them talking because aunty Jennifer
was looking really distressed. The nurse walked away
immediately I joined them, so I asked aunty Jennifer about
uncle cheatmaster. She didn’t say anything for a while, then
sat down on the closest seat as she said;
“They said he’ll be fine hopefully Meso but that he lost a lot
of blood due to the shooting and car crash.”
All that rang in my head was ‘shooting’. Uncle cheatmaster
was shot? I almost said out loud. I was so scared because I
knew that there was a probability he wasn’t going to make
it. At that moment, he was in the emergency room so I
bowed my head and said a little prayer. I asked God to help
uncle cheatmaster so he could live again. I begged God and
promised him that he would change his ways and I would
change mine as well. In my mind, I thought God wanted to
punish us for the things we had been doing behind the
curtains. I looked at aunty Jennifer who sat beside me with
her face buried in her palms. She was muttering some
things and I could see she was really worried. Tears were
rolling down her eyes and I joined her in tears. Not just
because I was worried about uncle cheatmaster, but also
because uncle cheatmaster and I were guilty of a crime that
if only she knew, would be so disgusted with us and feel
even worse. She looked up and saw me crying, then held me
close to her chest, whispering to me that it would be alright.
She also said a little prayer and I whispered an ‘Amen’.
Aunty Jennifer was a good woman. As much as I loved
uncle cheatmaster, I knew she deserved a better man. A lot
was going through my mind as my head rested on her
chest. After about an hour, a doctor came out to meet us at
the waiting area.
“You must be cheatmaster’s wife and his niece”
Aunty Jennifer stood up and responded with a ‘yes’.
“It’s a miracle he’s alive.”
When we heard this, we sighed in relief and thanked God.
Then the doctor continued, “….Please come with me to my
office.”
We followed him to his office and he spoke to us concerning
uncle cheatmaster’s condition. He told us that uncle
cheatmaster was really lucky to have still made it even with
the shooting and car crash. He also said if he hadn’t been
brought to the hospital immediately, we would have probably
be mourning him already. Then aunty Jennifer said she
wanted to see him so the doctor picked up the landline,
dialled a number and spoke to someone, before a nurse
walked in. The nurse was asked to escort us to uncle
cheatmaster’s room so we left with her. We got into his
room and saw uncle cheatmaster in the worst condition we
had ever seen him. He had bands on his left arm extending
to his chest area. He had a drip placed on his wrist with an
oxygen mask resting on his nose and mouth. He really was
in a horrible state. He was asleep, so we took our sit on a
couch that was in the room. None of us could say anything
because we were still trying to believe the state of uncle
cheatmaster. It was not a pleasing sight at all. Uncle
cheatmaster woke up after some hours. It was about
10:00pm in the night. Neither I nor aunty Jennifer closed
our eyes to rest. We had been waiting for uncle cheatmaster
to wake up so when he opened his eyes, aunty Jennifer
went and sat beside him. I just sat where I was and watched
them both. I watched as aunty Jennifer leaned in and
pecked him on the cheek. He was trying to smile at us but I
could see he was in pain. I was only at peace because he
was alive. Aunty Jennifer had asked if I wanted to go home
and I had told her that I was fine staying with them so we
were up till about 2:00am.
At this hour of the night, uncle cheatmaster suddenly
started gasping for air. I couldn’t understand what was
happening because he was using an oxygen mask. My heart
was racing as aunty Jennifer signaled to go get the nurse or
doctor. I ran out and returned with a nurse who checked and
saw that his oxygen mask was working fine. She tried doing
so many things but it didn’t take long before uncle
cheatmaster stopped breathing. The nurse looked at us and
said he was dead. He was recorded as a dead man right
there and then, in our faces.
“eeehhhhhhh, eeeehhhh, cheat! Cheat! Cheatmaster!” aunty
Jennifer who was right beside uncle cheatmaster shouted
while crying and gripping him
to be continued
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